Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: First Gate (2)
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Truly, I'd only taught him the most basic way to use mana in combat, yet Jeong-woo was slaughtering the goblin horde with one exclamation of awe after another.
"Whoa, this is seriously amazing... Blocking takes no effort at all."
I strolled along behind Jeong-woo, hands clasped behind my back, as he continued his relentless massacre without pause.
No matter how lacking in intelligence they were, their instincts remained, so the goblins thoroughly ignored me and doggedly attacked only Jeong-woo.
"Tsk—focus. Your mana overflowed just a bit there."
He had a decent grasp of basic combat instincts; point out a flaw once, and he'd correct it right away.
Jeong-woo flinched for a moment before readjusting his stance and diving back into the fray.
"Phew—how was that?"
"Hm. Not bad. You learn quickly."
Thanks to the nonstop practice, he was starting to get the hang of manipulating mana.
Gone was the dejected look from when he was first fumbling through it; now he swung his sword and shield tirelessly with a buoyant expression.
At that moment, something in the distance began shaking the ground with heavy thuds.
I spread my mana out wide to check, and there it was—a humanoid figure nearly as tall as a two-story apartment building lumbering toward us.
"Can you see it?"
"Huh? What now?"
How was it that just by having mana in their bodies, even a three-year-old could do what they couldn't?
I let out a small sigh and gave him the trick.
"Close your eyes and imagine drawing the mana from your navel up to the crown of your head, then extending it outward. Give it a try."
"Oh? Okay, I'll try."
Jeong-woo finished off the last goblin and immediately shut his eyes.
"Hm... I don't really get it..."
"Wait. I'll guide you."
I moved behind Jeong-woo, who stood there with eyes closed, placed both palms on his back, and channeled mana to lead him.
He didn't have mana circles, so he was clumsy at moving the mana inside his body.
"Oh... oh! There it is! That's a troll. Pretty tough for a B-Rank Gate boss, huh?"
"Memorize this feeling with your body. You'll find it useful often."
"Whoa... With this, I wouldn't even need Seo-yoon's Detection skill. This is wild."
With all this praise, his shoulders kept shrugging up proudly.
Maybe because mana had only been around on Earth for twenty years, even the basics amazed them.
"This is truly basic mana manipulation. What on earth are 'skills' that you don't even know something this fundamental?"
"Skills? They come automatically when you awaken, and you just think 'use it' to activate them."
Jeong-woo spoke in a confident tone, as if stating the obvious.
"That's mere trickery. Refrain from using them for a while; they'll hinder your growth."
"Got it. Anything else you can teach me? This is too fun."
I was about to scold him to master what I'd already taught him first.
But the troll's roar drowned it out as it closed in right up to us.
The thing Jeong-woo called a 'troll' just looked like a giant goblin.
The differences were its blue skin and the fact that it wielded not a club, but an entire tree.
"Okay, let's take that thing down first and talk after."
"Mm. Yes, it's hideous, so hurry and dispose of it."
Suddenly, the troll swung the tree toward us at a speed surprisingly swift for its bulk.
The wind from the swing sent leaves rustling off the branches, brushing past my face.
Jeong-woo reacted instantly, raising his shield into a defensive stance.
Using the shield technique I'd just taught him, he deflected even the troll's massive tree and immediately slashed at its leg with the sword in his other hand.
Green blood poured from the severed left leg of the troll, soaking the ground—cut halfway through, the ragged stump quickly scarred over and fully healed.
Looked like I'd need to teach him swordsmanship later too.
As I mentally noted each flaw one by one, Jeong-woo's fight with the troll quickly turned into a one-sided victory.
His quasi S-Rank arrogance wasn't entirely unfounded.
"Was I kinda cool just now? Cleared it faster than usual."
"Hm. You were. So stop looking at me like a child."
I chided him, and Jeong-woo grinned sheepishly before approaching the troll's corpse. He inflicted a wound on its neck and pulled out a glass vial to collect the dripping blood.
"Ugh... Why bother collecting such gross blood?"
"Ah, troll blood sells for a high price. It's an ingredient for high-grade potions."
After filling the vial partway, Jeong-woo skinned the troll's leg, rolled it up, and slung it over his shoulder.
"But in the world you came from, were there no trolls? It sounded like a game world."
"In Elantara, shadow mana beasts were the headache. Never even heard of something this gross."
"Ah ha... You're more squeamish than I thought?"
The stench was awful, so I kept my distance as we walked, but Jeong-woo teased playfully and suddenly hopped over to my side.
"Ugh... Stop it...!"
"Ha ha, okay, I won't. Teach me one more thing. Swordsmanship this time."
"Any thought of that just vanished, so stay three steps away."
Ignoring Jeong-woo's distant cries of apology, we followed our path back, and soon the blue Gate came into view.
It had closed the moment we entered earlier, but killing the boss reopened it, it seemed.
I reached out toward the Gate beyond—no sensation at all.
It felt like running my hand over something intangible.
Even infusing mana yielded the same result.
As I probed the Gate, Jeong-woo snuck up and tapped my back before stepping out first.
I supposed it was time for me to go too; with the boss gone, I could feel the space starting to collapse gradually.
A moment later, I followed Jeong-woo through the Gate and out.
"Whoa...! You cleared it so fast? Must be because an S-Rank came along, right?"
Outside the Gate, I saw a Hunter Management Bureau staffer named Su-yeon chatting with Jeong-woo.
Behind us, the blue Gate warped small and closed.
"I did nothing. Jeong-woo cleared it alone."
Even so, as his teacher, I gave him a little boost, and Su-yeon perked up cheerfully upon hearing me.
"Really? At this rate, White Wolf Guild might really have four S-Ranks~?"
"Nah, what are you saying? It was a B-Rank Gate, and two of us went in, so it was easy."
He tried to play it humble and hide his excitement, but he seemed thrilled inside.
Suddenly getting stronger must feel rewarding.
"Well, we'll be off then. Thanks for the cleanup."
"Sure thing~ Take care. See you next time."
After exchanging farewells, I gave a small bow too.
Su-yeon smiled at me and waved us off until the end.
"Hey, maybe I really can become an S-Rank? If I tweak things a bit more, even A-Rank Gates..."
"Hey now. Fixating on ranks like that will burn you out fast. Focus solely on mastering what you learned today."
There was a hint of stubborn pride about ranks.
"Yeah... you're right. Anyway, thanks a ton."
"No need. I only taught the basics."
Having this bear of a man repeatedly express gratitude felt a bit burdensome.
I walked ahead as Jeong-woo, equipment strapped to his back, clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly.
In the car heading back to the guild, I suddenly grew curious about the organizational chart of White Wolf Guild I'd somehow become part of.
Everyone said they currently had three S-Ranks, but I only knew of two including myself: Hyun-woo and me.
"By the way, why does everyone say White Wolf has three S-Ranks? You're A-Rank, so who is it besides you, me, and Hyun-woo?"
"I'm quasi S-Rank... well... There's this scary big sis named Baek Do-yeon."
An S-Rank had to be a guild's main firepower, yet I'd never heard the name, even at the first Gate where I met White Wolf folks.
"Hm, then why haven't I met her yet?"
"She has a bad habit of wandering off. She's the guild founder, but after recruiting Hyun-woo hyung and growing a bit, she dumped the master position on him and left. Probably even Hyun-woo hyung doesn't know where she is now?"
"Hmph... Irresponsible child. Then between her and Hyun-woo, who's stronger?"
The driver, who had been quietly listening from the front seat, burst out laughing at my question.
"Heh heh—sorry. It reminded me of my daughter asking if a T-Rex is stronger or a Velociraptor..."
"Hm... May I ask how old your daughter is?"
"Come to think of it, she's the same age as you, Hunter Ar, this year. Can't believe she's grown this much..."
Same age clearly meant my public age of 13.
"Ahem—back in the day, they were evenly matched, but now Hyun-woo hyung's probably stronger? In terms of mana capacity, he's top three in the world."
Noticing my slight annoyance, Jeong-woo cleared his throat and quickly answered.
Hunters were oddly obsessed with mana capacity.
It was something that could be overturned with enough talent and a good teacher.
They surely knew mana cultivation methods, right?
I glanced suspiciously at Jeong-woo, who still lacked even basic mana circles, and he mouthed 'what?' back.
This path ahead looked quite perilous.